I was just wondering if anyone has taken a look at one of their old packs and performed a little "light" surgery on it to drop some weight? One of my packs is a Gregory Shasta that is an absolute load monster but awfully heavy at about 6 lbs.

I was looking at it and realized that I could trim down all the straps to the lengths that I use (taking into account winter clothing etc.), cut off the 15 labels, shorten the long zipper pulls, cut off excess interior fabric, and I could get rid of useless weight. I took the pack apart and conservatively drilled out the very strong aluminum stays, and have even drilled out the very thick plastic reinforcements that are in the hipbelt. The pack is still incredibly strong and I doubt that I compromised the strength to any significant amount.

I no longer even carry the heavy loads that I used to but this still makes for a great winter pack, long trips with no resupply, or if I start climbing again.

I would be surprised if I haven't knocked off a pound in weight. I could even knock off more by cutting off the nalgene bottle holster (never use), cutting out the bladder pocket and the sleeping bag divider. The way the pack is sewn makes it very easy to trim fabric as all the seams are sewn with a fabric tape for reinforcement and to prevent unraveling.

I recently ordered a scale and wished I could have gotten this thing weighed for a before and after but I was bored and sick with nothing else to do.